6 Low Voltage Outdoor Lighting Options for Your Yard

Low voltage outdoor lighting is an easy way for do-it-yourselfers to add drama and curb appeal to their homes. Low voltage outdoor lighting systems are great for do-it-yourselfers because they can be easily installed and don’t require any knowledge of electrical wiring.

Before you head out to the store to pick up a set of low voltage lights, you should plan out your design. When you take the time to plan out your design, you can take advantage of the numerous different lighting options. 

1. Path Lighting

Path lighting is low voltage lighting designed to illuminate a path or walkway. These lights can also add real beauty to a driveway or backyard trail. Path lighting is very easy to install because the lights usually run in a relatively straight line. Path lighting can be designed with a number of different bulbs. If you are adding path lighting to increase safety and security, you should use a bright white light bulb.

2. Step Lighting

Step lighting is low voltage outdoor lighting that is designed to illuminate steps at night. Do-it-yourselfers that install step lights are almost always adding the lights to increase visibility. Step lights are more beautiful than big yellow stripes or glow in the dark striping. You may even be able to incorporate rope lights into your landscaping with step lighting.

3. Spot Lighting

Low voltage spot lighting is a way for do-it-yourselfers to add dramatic lighting to decorative features of your landscape design. If you have a fountain, flowering tree, or pond you can use a spot light to illuminate the feature at night. Spot lights will add a great deal of curb appeal to your home because even late at night your landscape features and design can be seen.

4. Silhouette Lighting

One of the most beautiful low voltage lighting options is silhouette lighting. This type of low voltage lighting works great for vertical features such as statues or tall fountains. The light is actually directed behind the object and a beautiful silhouette is displayed.

5. Upward Lighting

Upward lighting is a low voltage lighting option that can be used to highlight landscaped areas that are above ground level. Upward lights work great to bring attention to flower boxes that may be on first or second story windows. Upward lighting is sometimes placed directly in the ground in metal cans.

6. Wall-wash Lighting

Wall-wash lighting is also called grazing. Basically, low voltage outdoor lights are shone on a large area such as a flat wall on the exterior of your house or a thicket of trees. This light is different than spot lighting because it is not designed to highlight any one landscape element, but illuminate a large area. These lights are often seen on large corporate buildings to add a bit of brightness to the exterior at night.

Now that you know the options available to you when selecting low voltage outdoor lighting, you can choose the perfect lights. Don’t forget to lay out your design before you purchase any lighting. Otherwise you may have to make a few trips back to your local home improvement store to make an exchange.